Bookstore Ecology

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"We've tweaked the bookstore here and there since opening," says Megan. "The fiction section used to be mostly face out, but now we're mostly spined out"--bookseller vocabulary meaning they've filled the shelves library style. She says that while it's true that she can read anything she wants for free, "I've gotten really good at reading like this." She mimes reading a book opened about four inches to avoid cracking the spine.

Over at Literati, Hilary Gustafson says she and husband/partner, Mike, had, like the Blackshears, heard through the book grapevine that Nicola's was for sale and kept it quiet. Hilary was at the American Booksellers Association conference in Seattle when the Publishers Weekly article came out, "and it was all anyone at the conference wanted to talk about. Nicola's is a well-known, well-respected bookstore nationwide.

"We've heard rumors about who's interested," she says, but declines to name any names. "I have no doubt someone will buy the store. It's a vital part of the community, and someone will step up to the plate and take it over.